Ge. 50: Joseph Reassures his Brothers, and then Dies.

So there is mourning over Jacob, and Joseph takes advantage of his position in Egypt, and has the physicians embalm him for a full forty days. He was then mourned by Egypt for 70 days. This Hebrew. I wonder if there were any significant conversions from Egyptian religion to following God, because of His influence and power with Joseph? After this period of time, Jacob asks Pharaoh permission to go bury his father back in Canaan in the cave in the field of Mamre. What's Pharaoh going to say, no?

So Joseph leads this big caravan of people up north to Canaan from Goshen, including all the dignitaries from Pharaoh's court. When they reached Canaan, they mourned loudly and carried on, so much so that the Canaanites living there saw it, and were like, "Dang, those Egyptians are having a ceremony for one of their own, and called that place Abel Mizraim, meaning Egyptain mourning or Egyptian ceremony or something like that.

Joseph's brothers were still harboring fears and worry about what Joseph had pulled on them back in Egypt during the famine...which may still be going, actually. They thought he still held a grudge. They had been carrying this burden needlessly. So they make up this cock-and-bull story about how Jacob's instructions were for Joseph to forgive them for the wrongs his brothers committed against him. Joseph wept at these instructions. His brothers threw themselves down at his feet, saying they were his slaves. Pathetic really.

Joseph then tells them that in spite of the wrong they committed in the past, it was still used by God with a purpose. Its a beautiful declaration of forgiveness and reconciliation. Verse 20: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." What perspective. What an attitude. Of course Joseph's situation was revealed eventually to him. But still, he held no grudge, and did not call his brother's into account for what they had done. He was kind to them.

Genesis ends withe the death of Joseph at 110 years. He did live to see his great-grandchildren at their birth. Then Joseph, the second youngest, told his brothers that he was about to die, and that God will aid them and bring them out of the land into the place promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Its a neat little package.